LOTS in a name!

Naming a child is one big affair, especially in India.. It always amazed me, even as a child.. i wondered how do people know what to name their babies, its a big decision after all, Names are something we are stuck with throughout our lives!! One wrong decision n it could DESTROY our social lives!!
But as i grew up i realised its gotten way overrated.. Couples start naming their hypothetical babies even before they plan to have those babies! School girls maintained diaries with a collection of names they would like their kids to have (i ain't shitting u.. i actually know somebody who has one since she was in primary).
There used to be a time when they named the babies based on certain features.. like if the kid has beautiful eyes= Sunaina, melodious voice (ahem excuse me.....voice??!?!?!)= Sangeet/Sangeeta, Born on a rainy day= Mayur, Born on a sunny day= Aditya etc etc...
Then came the era of progression, there was always a pattern...all family members had names beginning with the same letter, or the name was a combination of both parents' names (eg: Sushita and Vijay could be Sujay).
Then came lets-see-who-can-come-up-with-whackier-names era, people would search all the worlds (or may be just the internet) to find never before heard of names (even just "sounds" at times)... some gave rise to really nice names but some made u wonder why would ANYBODY want to brand a poor puny baby with something that he/she'l be able to pronounce when he/she turns ten?!
Also there is the Numerology effect or just the guess-how-i-spell-it names... Yoseph (pronounced as Joseph), Triesha, Shoyeta..
And of course there is the name-the-kid-what-the-guy/girl-on-tv-is-named, im sure all the Aishwaryas, Aryans, Rishabhs [remember Rohit Roy of Swabhimaan fame?? :)] etc would agree with me..
I know an Aditya who was born on a Sunday, a Caroline (December born... "they named me Carol first but then Dads name begins with a C, mums begins with E.. so i start with a C n end with an E.."), a Hari ("was born on a flooded day, had to be brought home bundled warm and held up high because the water level had risen to dangerous levels"), a Madhavan (cos "The Madhavan" is soooooooo cuteeeeeeeee.. :D ), a Roshan (born on Diwali), a Shushruth (both parents are doctors), an Ishwariya ("cos some smarty pants who made my birth certificate couldnt spell")... Fascinating eh? I love attending naming ceremonies, there is almost always a little story behind it..
So after almost 2 decades of living with my name i went up to my darling mother one lazy sunday afternoon n asked her "Amma..... who named me?"... she (engrossed in embroidery) said "I did.."... Even better i thought, i get to hear the story from the creator herself, "why did u name me PRIYANKA ma?".... She looked up at me n gave me this smile n said "You were born more than a month before your expected date.. We were not entirely prepared, so i looked around n realised everybody was naming their daughter Priyanka.. i thought it was a nice name so...:)" .................... :O ..................... And they say KIDS say the DARNEST things! :D

No wonder my school attendance sounded like a stuck record, "Prajwal.... Prerna.... Prithvi..... Priyadarshini....Priyanka..... Priyanka..... Priyanka.... Priyanka...... Priyanka..... Priyanka.....Rashmi" And everytime i change my cell phone number i spend my free messages sending a "this is my new number...Priyanka" message and then half my balance letting them know which one!
BUT i'm not complaining.............. especially since my big brother wanted to name me "Tintika" :)